The Horror of Loneliness

Chapter Two

I stood up at the center of my room from where I sat on my bed of clay attached by the mud wall of the raffia palm thatch. I made a step towards the doorless entrance of my room and progressed to the main corridor of the building. My thatched mud house was not high so on the norms I supposed to bend my head downward to move through the entrance to avoid my head from touching the thatched roof, but on this day, fear took away my mind. I forgot to bend yet I felt no pain from the injuries all over my head caused by the bamboo and raffia planks which formed the truss of the hut to hold the thatches. I felt something warmer than the water dripping through my head towards my face and shoulder; it was my blood. I did not mind my blood since I felt no hurt but advanced in a bid to search for the light.

Everywhere was damned silent. The only voices I could hear were the hooting of the forest owls, one soloist by my backyard and others chorused in the dark thick forest’s trees far away from where I stood. I knew they were evil spirits, probably ghosts who were about to visit people’s houses in the night to cause sickness, create havoc and poison their food. That was the story I was told about the jungle owls.

I waited a while to listen if I could notice something much eviler, but all I heard were the hissing sounds of unknown forest insects crowding the silence of the lonely forest. I have been used to the sounds of crickets from my childhood. Whenever it sounded, I felt happy because crickets are signs that the good ghosts are happy with you. Of course, their sounds bring joy to your house because theirs is a sound of good tales. Although some evil spirits sometimes mimic the sounds of cricket, my nanny taught me how to detect the sound and recognize if the controversial visitor was real. In that very night the cricket never made a sound. Every good creature was out of sight as if they all planned to take my poor life. Every sound I heard came from unknown beings; every insect, every bird and tree were all against me. The fear of that day had never fallen on any man since our world was made by Abasi Ibom to our ancestors. 

I had all the energy to run as far as I could but my attackers were everywhere in the forest. My soul had already flown far away from the whole scene, but my body was holding me back from fleeing. I wish I could fly like a bird. I wish I was a ghost to disappear from the forest, or I was a magician to command my ancestors to come for my aid. All these were thought of my heart but never change the fact that I was about to die. 

I kept my feet forward and advanced in a cautious and timid pace waiting for the last moment of my breath, then I felt someone was following me. I shouted in fear but when I turned around it was the matching of my feet on the forest carpet formed by years of deposited dried leaves. I lifted up my eyes to look far through the dark night if I could see any sign of a light but everywhere remained even darker than it had ever been. Then I looked around the jungle in fear, behold came a light far from behind. I was happy because the light was coming nigh. The light was smaller than it should be so I thought it was the forest leaves that obstructed my view. Closer to me it came but I refused to make a step. The lonely fire fly was going about the forest, maybe it was searching for its brethren which were all absent in the air at the moment because of the strong wind and heavy rain. 

Suddenly the fireflies were increasing in number more than I expected. “Why do you come near me and not go your way”? I asked without an answer. My fear was intense because I knew who they were. “Fireflies are eyes of the forest demons who go about to check if there is a prey to be attacked by the ghosts and deities. If they enter your house be careful. Find a native doctor to make sacrifices for you or if there is no one to help, sacrifice by yourself; otherwise you may fall sick very soon”. Thus echoed the voice of my nanny within my mind. Off I ran from where I stood until I was tired but still in the midst of the woods. I made moves step by step in moderate pace, then I stood a while to take some breath which were already remaining so little as though I just climbed to the peak of the great Everest.